Dec 28, 2011

Shootings

Indonesia map by Uwe Dedering Wikipedia

An Australian company is not following the Golden Rule when they mine for gold. Nine people were critically injured, and three people died.

Please click and view the 12-27-2011 article from Friends of the Earth regarding three indigenous people killed by Indonesian police as they protested the mining by Arc Exploration of Australia: Three Killed in Aussie Mine Protest. "The victims were among nearly 1,000 people in Lambu village in West Nusatenggara province trying to stop the goldmining project by Arc Exploration and its Indonesian partner, PT Sumber Mineral Nusantara." Derec Davies of Friends of the Earth Australia was quoted in the article:

“Friends of the Earth is a global organization and we work with local communities to support their peaceful non violent environmental struggles. We are appalled by the response of the Indonesian police. The community was protesting against environmental damage caused by the mine. No Australian company should be complicit in any way in this level of violence. It is unacceptable in Australia and shouldn’t be acceptable in Indonesia.”

In 2004, a NY Times article described related problems with an American mining company, Newmont Mining Corporation. The giant corporation denied any wrongdoing:

"The infant's death came after years of complaints by local fishermen about waste dumped in the ocean by the owner of a nearby gold mine, the Newmont Mining Corporation, the world's biggest gold producer, based in Denver."

Americans, Japanese, and Australians have been some of the companies involved in plundering Sumbawa for gold and copper. This is from the Wikipedia entry for Sumbawa:

"Newmont Mine

The Southwestern extreme portion of Sumbawa is monopolized by American firm Newmont Mining Corporation; a large gold and copper mine, Newmont's Batu Hijau mine in Sumbawa began commercial operations in 2000, a decade after the copper and gold was discovered.[8] Newmont holds a 45% stake in the operation through its shareholding in PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara. A local unit of Japan's Sumitomo Corporation has a 35% share.
Newmont and its partners have invested about $1.9 billion in the mine, which has estimated reserves of 1,000 metric tons of copper. The reserves are expected to last until 2034, making Batu Hijau one of the largest copper mines in the world. Newmont has a been involved in scandals of mercury and arsenic poisoning in Sulawesi island,[9] as well as having been embroiled in pollution cases on four continents.[9]"